Railway-car brake



(No Model.)

P. P. WHITE. RAILWAY GAR BRAKE.

No. 451,095. Patented.Apr.28,1891.

. .21 Ziorngy n42 xunms PEYERS cu, mom-11mm, vusnmaron, n 0.1

UNITED STATES PATENT UEFIQE.

PATRICK F. WHITE, or WESTERN PORT, MARYLAND.

RAILWAY-CAR BRAKE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 451,095, dated April28, 1891.

Application filed January, 8,1891.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, PATRICK F. WHITE, residing at Vestern Port, in thecounty of Alleghany and State of Marylanch'have invented certain new anduseful Improvements in Railway-Car Brakes, of which the following is aspecification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

This invention relates to brakes for railway-cars, and while adapted forall cars is specially useful with cars which use air or other powerbrakes.

The object of the invention is to produce a car-brake in which the slackof the chain or operating-connections will be taken up automatically;also, to produce a brake in which the difference in thickness ofbrake-shoes may be equalized, so that the pressure will be uniformwhether the shoes be of alike thickness or not; also, to improvecar-brakes in various particulars, as hereinafter stated.

Figure 1 is a longitudinal section of a cartruck, showing part of acar-body and brakeconnections, unessential part-s being omitted. Fig. 2is a bottom plan of part of a car-body, (indicated in dotted lines,)showing diagrammatically the truck-wheels, axles, and brake connections,unessential parts being omitted. Fig. 3 is a detail elevation of slacktake-up.

Let the part designated by the numeral 1 indicate the bottom portion ofa car of any usual construction. A truck 2, also of usual construction,is connected thereto, and is duplicated at the other end of the car. The

- brake-beams 3 and 30 are suspended so as to swing rather loosely fromthe truck in any usual Way, and the brake-shoes at are opposite thewheels 5, being held out of contact by any of the usual appliances. Awindingshaft 6 is suspended about midway of the truck, and is hung inloose bearings. The bearing 7 may rest in slotted boxes 8, as in Fig. 2,or the shaft may be hung in boxes at the end of pendulous levers orbearers 9, these bearers being free to swing slightly, so that the shaft6 may adjust itself slightly out of parallelism with the axles 10 of thetruck. A chain 11 is connected to one of the brake-beams, near each endthereof, and the bight of the chain passes through a pulley 12. A chain13 is connected to the pulley, and its other end winds about the middleof the shaft Serial No. 377.183. (No model.)

.6, to which it is firmly secured. Two chains 15 and 16 are connected tothe other brakebeam 30, and are wound about shaft 6 in reverse directionfrom chain 13 and near the ends of said shaft. A lever 17 is journaledon the shaft 6, and a pawl 18, carried by said lever, engages ratchet19, which is firmly attached to the shaft. By drawing the free end oflever 18 in the direction of the arrow, Fig. 1, shaft 6 will be rotatedby means of the rack and pawl, and chains 13 15 16 will be wound onshaft 6. The pull on chain 13 causes the brake-beam 3 to apply the shoes4: with about equal force to the Wheels, as the pulley 12 will find theproper position on chain 11 to equalize the pull at both ends of beam 3.At the same time the shaft 6. will assume such a position as to equalizethe pull on chains 15 and 16.

As it is frequently desirable to replace a worn brake-shoe on a truckwith a new one while the others are but partially worn, this automaticarrangement of the winding apparatus to equalize the pressure is a greatadvantage. Ordinarily the pawl 18 will lie in the same tooth inratchet19; but if desirable to take up slack the pawlmay be adjusted byhand to engage a different tooth of the ratchet. The lever 17 is shownas being connected by means of chain 20 to the brake-bar 21, which baris connected by rod 22 with the lever 23, said lever 23 being operatedby piston-rod 24 from air-cylinder 25, as usual. It will be understoodthat any other suitable or usual connection may be made from lever 17 tothe power-cylinder or other mechanism for operating the brake. A lever17is shown in dotted lines, Fig. 1, connecting the shaft 6 directly to thehand-brake chain. The other end of brake-bar 21 is connected by chain orrod and chain 26 round pulley 27, and so by chain 28 to the automaticslack-tightener hereinafter described. A chain 29 connects pulley 27 tothe hand-brake shaft 31. Thus a pull on rod 22 or on chain 29 will swingthe brake-bar 21, swing lever 16 by the chain connection, and so wind upchains 13, 15, and 16 on shaft 6 and apply the brakes with asubstantially equal pressure on all the wheels.

The position of the hand and power brake apparatus may be as is mostconvenient. The illustration only shows one form in which the device maybe used. The lever 23 is duplicated at 23, and all the connections areduplicated to the other wheel-truck. As many intermediate levers may beused as desirable, as is usual in brake construction. The chain 28 leadsto shaft or drum 33, and is secured thereto so as to wind upon saidshaft or drum. The corresponding chain 28 from the other truck winds inreverse direction on shaft 33. Shaft33issupportedinsuitablebearing-pieces 34 and 35, connected to the car-body. The shafthas a ratchet-wheel 36, rigidly attached, and a lever 37 journals on theshaft alongside the ratchet. A pawl 38, carried by said lever, engagesthe ratchet, and a second pawl 39, hung on the bearing-piece 34:, alsoengages the ratchet to prevent retrograde movement thereof. A spring 41,attached tolever 37 and to some fixed part of the car, tends to pullsaid lever and thus turn the ratchetwheel 36 and wind up the chain 28 28on shaft 33. The locking-pawl 39 prevents a retrograde movement of theshaft 33. The backward pull on chain 28 when brakes are applied does notcome against thespring41, but against the locking-pawl 39. When thebrakes are oii, there is little resistance, and the spring 41 will beable to gather in the slack by winding the chains on shaft 33. Of coursethe location of springl is not material. The same result might bereached by a coil-spring connected to shaft 33 in other manner, so as toturn said shaft. The drum or shaft 33 is substantially a fulcrum orabutment, and the power applied to the brakes operates from this pointas a center of leverage. The spring 41 is merely strong enough to takeup the slack of the chains, and is not strong enough to overcome theusual springs or other devices used to keep the brakes out of action.

What I claim is- 1. The combination,with the yielding brake beam havinga shoe at each end, of a chain attached near each end of the beam, apulley through which said chain passes, and a chain connected to saidpulley and to a windingshaft, whereby the pressure on the brakeshoes isequalized when the chain is Wound on the winding-shaft, substantially asdescribed.

2. The combination, with the two brakebeams loosely supported on a truckand shoes near the ends thereof, of awinding-shaft supported in yieldingbearings between the brake-beams, and connecting-chains from near theends of one beam and from the middle of the other to saidwinding-shaft,'whereby the shaft will conform to the position of one ofthe bars and pressure on all the shoes be substantially equal when theshaft is turned, substantially as described.

3. The combination, with the windin g-shaf t and its chain connectionsto brake-beams at opposite sides thereof, of a lever journaled on theshaft and carryinga pawl, a ratchet-wheel secured to the shaft,withwhich said pawl engages, and means for operating said lever,

whereby the position of the lever may be changed when it is desirable totake up slack in the chains, all substantially as described. 4. Thecombination, with the brake apparatus, of a chain connection from theoperating shaft or lever, a winding-drum to which one end of the chainis attached, a spring tending to rotate said shaft to take up the slackof said chain, and a ratchet connected to said drum, and a pawl engagingthe same to prevent the unwinding of the slack when taken up.

5. The power-brake connections, a chain connected to the operating-chainthereof and round a pulley to a winding-drum, and a spring operatingsaid drum to take up the slack of the chain, a ratchet on the drum, anda pawl for locking the same, all combined and relatively arrangedsubstantially as described.

6. The combination, with the brake-operating connections of the twotrucks of a car, of

a chain connected to each, and an intermediate drum to which the chainsare attached, said drum serving as a fulcrum or abutment against whichstrain is applied, and means for winding said drum to take up the slackof both chains, substantially as described.

In testimony whereof I'affiX my signature in presence of two witnesses.

PATRICK F. \VI-IITE. WVitnesses:

JAMES H. BELL, O. S. JAMESON.

